The Poetical Works of David Macbeth Moir Edited by Thomas Aird: With A Memoir of the Author |
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DRYBURGH ABBEY. |
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 | The Poetical Works of David Macbeth Moir |  |
II. DRYBURGH ABBEY.
Beneath, Tweed murmur'd 'mid the forests green:And through thy beech-tree and laburnum boughs,
A solemn ruin, lovely in repose,
Dryburgh! thine ivy'd walls were greyly seen:
Thy court is now a garden, where the flowers
Expand in silent beauty, and the bird,
Flitting from arch to arch, alone is heard
To cheer with song the melancholy bowers.
Yet did a solemn pleasure fill the soul,
As through thy shadowy cloistral cells we trode,
To think, hoar pile! that once thou wert the abode
Of men, who could to solitude control
Their hopes—yea! from Ambition's pathways stole,
To give their whole lives blamelessly to God!
The monks of the beautifully situated Abbey of Dryburgh belonged to the order of Premonstratenses, or White Canons. According to Ridpath, (p. 87,) the Monastery of Dryburgh was built by the Constable Hugh de Moreville; but this appears doubtful, as, from a charter of King David, published by Dugdale, (Monasticon, vol. ii.,) and said to have been copied from the original by Sir John Balfour, the foundation of the Church of St Mary at Dryburgh is distinctly attributed to that monarch. Be this as it may, it was founded in 1141.
At the Reformation, Dryburgh Abbey became the property of the Halliburtons of Newmains, ultimately represented by “the Mighty Minstrel” whose ashes rest there, in the cemetery of that ancient family. It is now the seat of the Earl of Buchan.
| The Poetical Works of David Macbeth Moir | |